Punching-machine.



F. E. WHHNEY SL A. K. EDWARDS.

PUNCHING MACHINE. APPLICATmN mio AuG.2,1916.

5 SHEETS-SHEET l.

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PUNCHlNG MACHINE. Mmmnon mw mm2, iwe.

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5 SHEETS VSHEET 4.

R E. WHHNEY 'SL AA K. EDWARDS. PUNCHING MACHINE. APPLICANON mm AuG.z,191a.

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5 SHEETS "SHEET 5.

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FRANK E. WBITN'EY .AND ALFRED K. EDWARBS, GF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA,

ASSIGNORS TQ COMERCIAL TRUCK (16mm 0F AMERICA', 0F PHEADELPBIA, Y PENNSYLVANIA, A COBPGBATIN .GF PENNSYLVANIA.

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Speeieeton of'Lctters Patent.

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Application led August, 1916. Seal No. 112,712.

. specification.

' One object of this invention is to provide a machine which shall be primarily capable of forming aV succession of elongated, rela-. tively .narrow slots in thin sheets of vulcan# ized rubber for the purpose of providing separators such as that illustrated in the applica-tion of Frank E. Whitney, filed June 17, 1915, Serial No. 34,705 ;-the machine being especially designed to .operate at a high speed without becoming choked by the pnnchings resulting from the sheets operated on.

It is further desired to provide a punching machine which shall include novel means'for movably supporting the punch carrying head with a view to preventing injury to the punches and dies which would otherwise certainly occur owing to lost motion from wear and other causes occurring between the various parts. Y

Another object of the invention is to provide a punching machine for simultaneously makinga'se'ries of relatively narrow slots in a body of sheet material which shall include novel means for Aintermittently feeding the sheet in timed relation with the punching mechanism the invention contemplatingnovel means for rigidly yet adjustably holding and properly supporting a. punchV or punches capable of making narrow elongated'sIOts of relatively small dimensions.

Itis also desired to provide a machine of the character described with a novel means for holding and supporting `the punches as Well as a novel structure for stripping the sheets from said punches.

These objects and other advantageous ends wesecure as hereinafter set forth, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figures 1 and -2 are respectively a plan and an elevation of a punching machine constructed according to our invention;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line Pig. 4 1s an enlarged end elevation of certam of the gearmgvtor driving and regulating the operation of the VJfeed rolls, together A with the parts associated therewith;

Fig. 5 is a. transverse vertical section on a. somewhat enlarged scale, illustrating the detail construction of the punches and dies with their associated structures;

Fig. 6 is a vertical section on the line 6-6,

Fig. 5 and Fig.v 7 is ay plan of a portion or" one of the rubber separator sheets formed by our machine. I

ln the above drawings l represents the two substantially parallel side members of a supporting frame which is horizontally elongated and about its middle point has a transversely extending bar 2 rigidly connecting i said side members. These latter are also rigidly connected by a pair of parallel bars 3 and a which serve to support sheet guides 5. At oneend-of the machine the side members are upwardly extended as indicated at 6 and are rigidly connectedby a heavy plate 7 which is bolted to thennwhile in addition said members have at substantially their middle points, upward extensions 8 rigidly connected by a cross bar 9 as shown in Fig. 2. A Y

Journaled in these extensionseS is a horizontally extending shaft 10V which outside of the frame has tixed to it a driving pulley 11, connected to any suitable source of power and which between the extensions has a pair of eccentric portions 12 for actuating a vertically movable punch head 13. lThis latter consists of a structure of substantially L-shaped section operative between the extensions 8 and having its vertical portion I3 fixed to av pair ot spring plates 14, one at its top and one adjacent its bottom, .which are rigidly xed in the transverse trame element 7, so as to project horizontally therefrom. Said plates are preferably made ot' spring steel and normally maintain a pair of rollers` 15 on the head 13 in engagement with the eccentric portions 12 of the shaft 10. While we have shown the spring plates 1l as riveted to the head 13 and to the frame member 7, it is obvious that they may be connected to these structures by any other suitable means.

At about the central part of the cross member 9 is fixed an upwardly projecting bracket 16 between which` and the punch head 13 is mounted a coil spring 17 for assisting the spring plates to return said head to' and normally maintain it at, its upper limi* of movement;

From Figs. 3, 5 and 6; it will be seen that we provide a punch holding block 18 carried by the punch head 13 which is formed with alongitudinally undercut recess in its under face for the reception thereof. 'ne side ot' this recess is provided by aV plate 19 having a series of vertically extending slots 20 for the reception of bolts threaded into the punch 'head 13 and which when slightly loosened, willrelease said plate and permit the removal of the block 18. The latter has in its under aee'a relatively narrow, longitudinally extending recess designed for the' reception of a pair of clamping bars 21 and 22 which grip a series of punches 23 made of short lengths of strip spring steel, though obviously other materials might be employed for the purpose without departing from our invention. These punches all lie in substantially the same plane and are removably yet rigidly held between said clamping plates under the action of clamping screws 2li, of which one is shown in Fig. 3.

Each of the metal strips constituting the punches 23 hasV operative upon its upper edge, which projects above the bars 21 and 22, a 'set screw 25 mounted in the block 18 whereby any one of said punches may be independently moved longitudinally.

-The transverse frame member 2, as shown in Fig. 3, is'provided with a vertical slot 23 and supports a block 26 held in place by two sets of knurled head screws 36 extending upwardly through said vmember. Said block has in its upper face a longitudinally extending recess into which opens a slot 27 and within this recess has a die formed by a pair of elongated bars 29 and 30 rigidly clamped by a suitable number of bolts or set screws 31 threaded horizontally into the block 26.- While the die bar 29 has a. plane Vertical tace coacting with the punches 23, the adjacent vertical face of the die bar 30 is formed with downwardly flaring recesses for the'reception ot' the punches respectively and as shown in Fig. 5, said recesses open intothe slot 27 oli-the block 26.

Held to the ends of the block 26 by screws 32 (Figs. 5 and 6) are two upwardly extending plates 33 whichserve to support a cross plate 34 iu'imet'liately over the block 26 but spaced away froinit, thus providing a laterally elongated, relatively narrow and horizontally extending space designed for the passage of the rubber or other sheets a: which it is desired to punch. This plate 34 has in its upper face a relatively deep, longitudinallyextending recess designed to receive the block 18 of the punch head 13 and the bottom of said recess is transversely slotted to permit of the close passage of the punches 23 with the downwardly projecting extensions of the clamping plates 2i and 22 which I from above downwardly toward both theV front and rear so as to prevent catchingof the sheet fr, said part also serving as a stripper to remove said sheet from the punches as these are drawn upwardly, since the bridge pieces 35a bear upon that part of said sheet between the punched portion.

For intermittently feeding a sheet of ma' terial a; through the machine we provide two sets of nip rolls 37-38 and 39-40 having adjacent their ends reduced portions rotatably mounted in pairs of bearing blocks 41 and 42 vertically slid-able in suitable guideways formed in the side frame members 1. The blocks 4:1 are respectively retained in their guideways by bolts dei having extensions 43 while the blocks 42 are similarly held in place by bolts or screws 45 having extensions f6. Y A

The spindles 37l and 38- o the rolls 37 and 38 have ixed to them adjacent one end a pair of coacting inclined toot-h gear wheels i7 and 48 and similarly the spindles 39a and 40 of the rolls 39 and d() have fixed to them two similarly coacting gears 49- and 50. The gears 48 and 50 are respectively engaged by a. pair of similar gears 5l and 52, xed to the shaft 53', which also has iixed to it a worm wheel 54 driven by a worm 55 on a vertically extending spindle 56 ;-the latter-having fixed to'its upper end a worm vwheel57 engaged by a worm 58 fixed .t a

spindle 59 which also carries one member 60 of a Genevagear.

rhe second member 61 of this gear is fixed to one end of the driving shaft l() so that its pin 62 will periodically enter one of the slots of the member 60 and rotate the shaft 59 a quarter of a revolution `for each iull revolution of said driving shaft'. ln the present instance the gearing above described is so proportioned thateach of the nip rolls is given onel revolution for eachv hundred revolutions of the driving shaft 10, it being possible to adjust the distance between the',

nip rolls o the respective pairs b v 'knurled head bolts or screws-63 and 64.

With the above described arrangement of parts thc rotation of the' pulley 11 causes the eccentric portions l2 of the shaft l0 to so act on the rollers 15 that the punch -head is reciprocated, the supporting spring plates 14 being bent downwardly at each stroke of said head and being assisted by the spring 17 in returning the latter t0 its normally raised position. A sheet of relative thin rubber delivered to the rolls 37 and 38 is intermittently fed forward by them through the passage between the die block 26 and the stripper plate 34, and is ultimately engaged by the line of punches23 which simultaneously form in it a series of elongated relatively narrow slots extending for practically its entire Width.

The gearing is so proportioned that shortly after the withdrawal of the punches from the sheet, the latter is fed forward a vpredetermined distance preferably slightly greater than the thickness of one of the punches, which immediately thereafter again act to form a second line of slots in thc sheet. In the finished sheet each slot is separated from that at either end of it by a relatively narrow, unpunched rib Whose width is equal to the distance between ad-V jacent punches, so that as shown in F ig. 7, said plate or sheet has a number of parallel lines of narrow, elongated slots spaced relatively close together, with each line separated from that adjacent it by a narrow unpunched rib.

By means of the peculiar punching and stripping arrangement shown, the punchings resulting from the formation of the slots are forced cleanly out of the sheet Without the production of burs or rough edges, and by reason of the peculiar punch head support, which consists .of the spring plates lil With their coacting parts, the punches will at all times properly enter the dies Without likelihood of breakage or injury.

' In this regard we have found the machine above described to be a material improvement over existing punching machines, for in a relatively short time the Wear between a slidable punch head and its guides is such as to make its use practically impossible when the dimensions of the holes to be made are relatively small and they are placed comparatively close together.

Further, With the peculiar construction of stripper and dies shown, We have found that relatively thin plates of hard rubber may be punched with great rapidity, since not only are the punches withdrawn without injuryA to the sheets but the punchings formed do not clogr up the machine.

lVe claim l. The combination of a supporting structure; a pair of spring plates fixed thereto at one end so as to be spaced apart and extending therefrom parallel to each other; a punch head carried by the free ends of said plates; a punch carried by said head; a die for the punch; and means operative on the punch head for forcibly moving the punch toward the die.

:2. The combination of a supporting structure; a punch head; a plurality of laterally flexible parallel members spaced apart and extending between the punch head and the supporting structure a series of punches carried by said head; a series of dies mountf ed to respectively coperate with said punches; and means operative on the punch head to move it in a line substantially at.

right angles to the line of the exible member to cause the punchesto coperate with the dies. i

3. rlhe combination of a supporting structure; tivo parallel spring" plates projecting therefrom; a punch head carried by said plates; a roller on the punch head; a driven shaft having' an eccentric operative on the roller to move the punch head in a. line at right angles to the line of the spring plates; a. punch carried by the head; and a die placed to cooperate with the punch.

4. lThe combination in a punching ma.- chine of a head; a punch holding block carried by the head; a pair of clamping bars mounted in a recess of the block and having a series of transverse recesses; a series of iat independent metal strips constituting punches mounted respectively in said recesses and clamped between the bars so as to project; a series of adjusting screws mounted in the-block and respectively engaging the strips; with a die having openings for the reception of the strips.

rlhe combination inv a punching machine of a punch head; a pair of clamping bars mounted in said head; a series of par-I allel meta-ll strips gripped by said bars and constituting punches; adjusting screws mounted in the head and each operative upon an end of one of said strips projecting above said clamping bars; with a die having openings for the reception of the opposite ends of the strips.

6. rihe combination in a punching' machine of la punch head; a block mounted therein and having a recess; aseries of adjustine screws in the block ext-ending into said recess; a pair of clamping bars in the recess; a series of metal strips clamped between said bars and respectively engaged at' one end by said screws; with a die havingr openings for' the reception of the projecting ends of the strips.

7. The combination in a punching machine of a punching' head; a pair of clamping,- bars each having extensions along one edge; a series of metal strips constituting punches ,gripped between said bars andrei spectively engaged byv a pair of adjacent extensions thereof; a die having openings placed to receive lsaid strips; with a stripper plate extending between the punch head and said die having* openings to permit-of the passage of the respective punches and of the extensions of the clan'ipinpr bars in engagement therewith.

8. The combination in a punching' machine of a head: a series of independent metal strips carried thereby and constitutingpunches; a die for said punches consisting of a bar havinga substantially plane face parallel with the plane of the punches,

rigidly connected thereto at one end; a

punch head carried hy said plates; a roller carried by the punch head; a driven shaft having an eccentric Daced to coperate with said roller to periodically depress the head; v a. series of punches carried by the head; a die havingr openings for 'the reception of said punches; and means for intermittently feeding a body of sheet material between 'the 20 punches and the die.

FRANK E. WHTNDY. ALFRED K. EDWARDS. 

